EP0596537A1 - Ladungsschleuse mit Mikroumgebung und Methode zur Kupplung von einem Mikroumgebungsbehälter mit einer Prozesskammer - Google Patents

Ladungsschleuse mit Mikroumgebung und Methode zur Kupplung von einem Mikroumgebungsbehälter mit einer Prozesskammer Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0596537A1
EP0596537A1 EP93118098A EP93118098A EP0596537A1 EP 0596537 A1 EP0596537 A1 EP 0596537A1 EP 93118098 A EP93118098 A EP 93118098A EP 93118098 A EP93118098 A EP 93118098A EP 0596537 A1 EP0596537 A1 EP 0596537A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
load lock
micro
wafer
container
chamber
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Ceased
Application number
EP93118098A
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English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
Gordon P. Krueger
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Applied Materials Inc
Original Assignee
Applied Materials Inc
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Applied Materials Inc filed Critical Applied Materials Inc
Publication of EP0596537A1 publication Critical patent/EP0596537A1/de
Ceased legal-status Critical Current

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
    • H01L21/67775—Docking arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L21/00—Processes or apparatus adapted for the manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or solid state devices or of parts thereof
    • H01L21/67—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere
    • H01L21/677—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations
    • H01L21/67763—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading
    • H01L21/67772—Apparatus specially adapted for handling semiconductor or electric solid state devices during manufacture or treatment thereof; Apparatus specially adapted for handling wafers during manufacture or treatment of semiconductor or electric solid state devices or components ; Apparatus not specifically provided for elsewhere for conveying, e.g. between different workstations the wafers being stored in a carrier, involving loading and unloading involving removal of lid, door, cover

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a micro-environment load lock for coupling a micro-environment container directly to a process chamber and a process for coupling a micro-environment container to a process chamber.
  • Micro-environments such as are provided by the standard mechanical interface (SMIF) box of the type manufactured by Asyst Technologies, Inc. of Milpitas, California, are an attractive alternative to the expense, excessive handling, and exposure to contaminant particles attendant with the bagging of semiconductor wafers for transport.
  • SMIF-type box semiconductor wafers are transported and handled in small sealed containers, which deliver good contaminant particle results, while providing an industry standard interface between the base of the box and an outboard box load/unload mechanism.
  • Various sealed containers of this type as are known in the art include those taught by Bonora et al (US-A-4,995,430) and Mortensen et al (US-A-4,709,834 and US-A-4,582,219).
  • a disadvantage of the SMIF-type box is the need to purchase a special outboard SMIF box load/unload mechanism for each piece of wafer processing equipment with which a SMIF box is to be used.
  • the purpose of such mechanism is to remove the wafers from the SMIF box and to transfer the wafers to and from the processing equipment.
  • the chamber volumes associated with the SMIF box, the load/unload mechanism, and the load lock chamber of the wafer processing equipment are quite large (in current practice, 60 liters of gas must be pumped and vented for the load lock alone). Such large volumes require considerable pump down time, i.e. the time it takes to physically evacuate gases from the various chambers. These pump down times extend the cycle time of each wafer processed, limiting wafer throughput.
  • the foregoing systems, having large chamber volumes, are also wasteful of expensive processing gases.
  • the present invention relates to the handling of precision workpieces, such as semiconductor wafers. More particularly, the present invention relates to the transfer of semiconductor wafers between a sealed container and a sealed processing environment.
  • the present invention refers to a micro-environment load lock for coupling a micro-environment container, especially a SMIF-type box, containing a cassette of semiconductor wafers directly to a wafer processing chamber.
  • the load lock includes a load lock chamber, which may include a buffer area in communication with at least one wafer processing chamber, or which may alternatively comprise the processing chamber itself.
  • the load lock also includes a seal operable to accept and sealably couple the container to the load lock chamber, such that the container becomes an extension of the load lock chamber.
  • the load lock provides a base that is selectably operable to open and close the container and to selectably draw a cassette of wafers from the container through a port in communication with the load lock chamber and into the load lock chamber.
  • the base is also operable to seal the port in the absence of the container.
  • a single robot is provided in the buffer area of the load lock chamber for moving one wafer at a time between the cassette of wafers and the process chamber.
  • the present invention provides a micro-environment load lock in which a semiconductor wafer carrier of electropolished stainless steel, plastic, or other suitable material, fitted with an industry standard mechanical interface (SMIF-type interface) at its base is received at, and loads directly to, a lift indexer associated with a single or multiple chamber reaction vessel.
  • SMIF-type interface industry standard mechanical interface
  • a carrier or container 10 of the SMIF-type for semiconductor wafers known in the prior art is shown in cross section in Fig. 1.
  • Such containers provide a sealed micro-environment that allows a cassette 18 of semiconductor wafers 15 disposed within the container to be transported without the risk of contamination by particulants in the ambient.
  • SMIF-type containers include an outer surface 11 for maintaining a sealed environment and also typically include a carrying handle 12, an electrostatic shield 14, and a mechanism 16 for securing the contents of the container against unwanted movement or shifting during transit.
  • the wafer container may be formed from various materials as discussed above, in some embodiments of the invention, e.g. ultra-high vacuum applications, plastic may not be a suitable material from which to form the wafer carrier. In such applications, the preferred material for forming the wafer container is stainless steel and other such materials.
  • a latch mechanism (not shown) on the container 10 secures a carrier base 13 and seals the base to an indexer and wafer transfer mechanism (not shown) having a port plate 22, which is specifically adapted to receive the carrier.
  • the carrier is typically enclosed in a sealed chamber provided by the wafer transfer mechanism. During processing, the enclosing chamber must be evacuated.
  • a stack of wafers 15 is shown arranged in a wafer cassette 18 disposed within the SMIF-type container 10.
  • the wafer cassette 18 is supported by and movably coupled to a carrier door 20.
  • an associated port door 24 is operable to engage with the carrier door 20 and draw the wafer cassette 18 from the container 10 into a second chamber.
  • a robot within the indexer and wafer transfer mechanism may be operated to transfer each wafer in serial fashion between the container 10 and a processing station load lock where another robot is operated to transfer the wafers to a processing chamber.
  • the robot may transfer the entire cassette to a processing station load lock where a second robot is used to individually select and transfer each wafer to and from one or more process chambers.
  • the wafers are introduced into the processing station.
  • two external chambers and their associated volumes are required: one to receive the sealed container, and one to receive the wafer cassette; and 2) semiconductor wafers transported within the SMIF-type carrier are handled twice: once by the indexer and wafer transfer mechanism, and thereafter by the transfer mechanism within the processing station load lock.
  • the present invention involves only one internal volume: that of the wafer carrier itself in combination with that of the load lock chamber.
  • the prior art requires the additional volumes discussed above, including a chamber for receiving the sealed container and a much larger load lock chamber (because the entire cassette is transferred into the load lock chamber before each wafer is processed, thus requiring a larger load lock chamber volume).
  • the diminished volumes inherent in the present invention provide a faster cycle time (pump down and vent) than previously possible.
  • the volumes may be Nitrogen filled to further reduce the pump down times.
  • Elimination of the external SMIF-type box interface by the present invention also eliminates the cycle time required to transfer each wafer from the wafer cassette, through the external interface transfer mechanism and into the process equipment load lock chamber. That is, wafers are transferred by the present invention directly into the process tool from the wafer carrier.
  • the present invention couples a wafer carrier directly to a piece of process equipment and thus substantially reduces the introduction of contaminant particles into a process station as may be attributed to the presence of an external indexer wafer transfer mechanism, as well as those attributable to the additional port attendant with the external transfer mechanism.
  • any particle contaminants that may be attributable to the presence of the wafer carrier's base in the pumped volume of the load lock chamber may be resolved using an in situ particle monitor.
  • cycle purge of the lower volume prior to lowering the wafers has been found to eliminate or substantially mitigate any contribution of contaminant particles as may be attributable to the wafer carrier.
  • Figs. 2a - 2d provide a series of cross sectional views of the load lock mechanism of the present invention at various phases of operation.
  • a SMIF-type container 10 is shown having a wafer cassette 18 disposed within.
  • the present invention refers to a load lock mechanism 23 which includes a surface 28 adapted to sealably engage with a corresponding SMIF-type carrier surface 13.
  • the load lock receives a SMIF-type container and uses the container itself as a first chamber to thereby eliminate the enclosing chamber into which containers are placed in prior art mechanisms. That is, the container in the present invention provides an extension of the load lock chamber and thereby eliminates entirely the need of enclosing the container.
  • the container and the load lock chamber comprise a single volume that is never larger than the absolute minimum volume necessary to accommodate that portion of the wafer cassette corresponding to the location of the wafer currently being processed. This simplifies operation of the load/unload mechanism and provides faster system throughput, as well as simplifying system construction and maintenance.
  • a load lock base 29 seals the lock load mechanism 23.
  • the load lock base 29 engages with the carrier door 20 in such manner as to selectably draw the carrier door into a load lock chamber 25. It is important that the cassette 18 is maintained in rigid alignment with the carrier door 20 such that the cassette is properly indexed during repeated wafer transfers. Accordingly, an H-bar 19 (Fig. 1) is usually provided to locate the cassette to the carrier door and thus maintain the integrity of cassette alignment relative to the carrier door.
  • Prior art H-bars typically engage with carrier doors that are made of light and flimsy materials. It has been found in the present invention that rugged materials must be employed in the formation of the carrier door portion that mates with the cassette H-bar to assure proper rigidity and repeatability as would not otherwise be possible due to fatigue and warping in lightweight and less enduring materials.
  • a lift mechanism 31 lowers the load lock door, and thus the wafer cassette 18, through a load lock port 27 to a first wafer position.
  • the load lock chamber is then pumped down using standard slow to fast parameters.
  • the wafer cassette may be slightly lowered and the load lock chamber 25 fast pumped, such that the poor conductance between the internal volumes of the load lock chamber 25 and the wafer carrier 10 act as a slow pump which establishes a pressure differential for drawing the wafers into the load lock chamber.
  • a single robot assembly 30 disposed within the load lock mechanism is operable to transfer a wafer 15 (Figs. 2c and 2d) between the wafer cassette 18 and a process chamber 26.
  • the wafers are transferred to and from the process chamber one at a time.
  • the cassette is slightly lowered a sufficient distance after a processed wafer is replaced in the wafer cassette, such that the next wafer may be removed from the cassette by the robot.
  • the lift mechanism 31 is thus configured to operate as a wafer indexer, such that lift operation is coordinated with that of the robot.
  • the robot may include an alignment mechanism or an alignment mechanism may be included within the process chamber.
  • Alignment mechanisms are known in the art and may be of any type as would be suitable for the specific application, e.g. wafer size, etc.
  • the present invention may be provided with any process equipment of the type with which it is desirable to use a SMIF-type carrier.
  • multiple chamber, as well as single chamber equipment benefit from the present invention, as well as other types of processing equipment as are known in the art to benefit from the use of SMIF-type carriers.
  • the load lock port 27 may be located in a central location, just above a wafer handling robot, and such that the cassette, when lowered into a central chamber, is surrounded by multiple processing chambers.
  • the present invention is not limited to SMIF-type carriers or containers, but may be used with any sealed micro-environment.
  • the surface 28 and the base 29 may be configured as appropriate for mating with any type of micro-environment sealed carrier as is provided. Thus, they may be an O-ring, a machined surface, etc.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Condensed Matter Physics & Semiconductors (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Container, Conveyance, Adherence, Positioning, Of Wafer (AREA)
EP93118098A 1992-11-06 1993-11-08 Ladungsschleuse mit Mikroumgebung und Methode zur Kupplung von einem Mikroumgebungsbehälter mit einer Prozesskammer Ceased EP0596537A1 (de)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US97311292A 1992-11-06 1992-11-06
US97265992A 1992-11-06 1992-11-06
US973112 1992-11-06
US972659 1997-11-18

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0596537A1 true EP0596537A1 (de) 1994-05-11

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Family Applications (2)

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EP93118097A Withdrawn EP0596536A1 (de) 1992-11-06 1993-11-08 Transportsysteme und zugehörige Anwendungsmethode
EP93118098A Ceased EP0596537A1 (de) 1992-11-06 1993-11-08 Ladungsschleuse mit Mikroumgebung und Methode zur Kupplung von einem Mikroumgebungsbehälter mit einer Prozesskammer

Family Applications Before (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP93118097A Withdrawn EP0596536A1 (de) 1992-11-06 1993-11-08 Transportsysteme und zugehörige Anwendungsmethode

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Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4425208A1 (de) * 1994-07-16 1996-01-18 Jenoptik Technologie Gmbh Einrichtung zur Kopplung von Be- und Entladegeräten mit Halbleiterbearbeitungsmaschinen
US6048154A (en) * 1996-10-02 2000-04-11 Applied Materials, Inc. High vacuum dual stage load lock and method for loading and unloading wafers using a high vacuum dual stage load lock

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4582219A (en) * 1985-02-20 1986-04-15 Empak, Inc. Storage box having resilient fastening means
EP0219826A2 (de) * 1985-10-24 1987-04-29 Texas Instruments Incorporated System für Vakuumbehandlung
EP0238751A2 (de) * 1986-03-25 1987-09-30 SHIMIZU CONSTRUCTION Co. LTD. Halbleiterbehandlungsvorrichtung
EP0239266A2 (de) * 1986-03-10 1987-09-30 SHIMIZU CONSTRUCTION Co. LTD. Transportsystem in einem sauberen Raum
US4709834A (en) * 1987-02-02 1987-12-01 Empak Inc. Storage box
EP0358443A2 (de) * 1988-09-06 1990-03-14 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Maskenkassetten-Ladevorrichtung
WO1990014273A1 (en) * 1989-05-19 1990-11-29 Asyst Technologies, Inc. Sealable transportable container having improved latch mechanism
US5044871A (en) * 1985-10-24 1991-09-03 Texas Instruments Incorporated Integrated circuit processing system
WO1992007759A1 (en) * 1990-11-01 1992-05-14 Asyst Technologies, Inc. Method and apparatus for transferring articles between two controlled environments

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4582219A (en) * 1985-02-20 1986-04-15 Empak, Inc. Storage box having resilient fastening means
EP0219826A2 (de) * 1985-10-24 1987-04-29 Texas Instruments Incorporated System für Vakuumbehandlung
US5044871A (en) * 1985-10-24 1991-09-03 Texas Instruments Incorporated Integrated circuit processing system
EP0239266A2 (de) * 1986-03-10 1987-09-30 SHIMIZU CONSTRUCTION Co. LTD. Transportsystem in einem sauberen Raum
US4826360A (en) * 1986-03-10 1989-05-02 Shimizu Construction Co., Ltd. Transfer system in a clean room
EP0238751A2 (de) * 1986-03-25 1987-09-30 SHIMIZU CONSTRUCTION Co. LTD. Halbleiterbehandlungsvorrichtung
US4709834A (en) * 1987-02-02 1987-12-01 Empak Inc. Storage box
EP0358443A2 (de) * 1988-09-06 1990-03-14 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Maskenkassetten-Ladevorrichtung
WO1990014273A1 (en) * 1989-05-19 1990-11-29 Asyst Technologies, Inc. Sealable transportable container having improved latch mechanism
US4995430A (en) * 1989-05-19 1991-02-26 Asyst Technologies, Inc. Sealable transportable container having improved latch mechanism
WO1992007759A1 (en) * 1990-11-01 1992-05-14 Asyst Technologies, Inc. Method and apparatus for transferring articles between two controlled environments

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE4425208A1 (de) * 1994-07-16 1996-01-18 Jenoptik Technologie Gmbh Einrichtung zur Kopplung von Be- und Entladegeräten mit Halbleiterbearbeitungsmaschinen
US5655869A (en) * 1994-07-16 1997-08-12 Jenoptik Technologie Gmbh Device for coupling loading and unloading devices with semiconductor processing machines
US6048154A (en) * 1996-10-02 2000-04-11 Applied Materials, Inc. High vacuum dual stage load lock and method for loading and unloading wafers using a high vacuum dual stage load lock
US6254328B1 (en) 1996-10-02 2001-07-03 Applied Materials, Inc. High vacuum dual stage load lock and method for loading and unloading wafers using a high vacuum dual stage load lock

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Publication number Publication date
EP0596536A1 (de) 1994-05-11

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